Background: President Thomas Jefferson had purchased the Louisiana territory from the French in 1803. After congress approved a budget of $2,500 for an expedition into the new land, he chose Captain Meriwether Lewis to head the expedition into the territory to attempt to find a waterway stretching across the continent, determine the possibility for expanding trade, develop Indian relationships, and record the plants, animals, geography, natural resources, and terrain. Lewis asked his friend, William Clark, to be co-leader of the expedition. In May 1804, the "Corps of Discovery" (Lewis, Clark, and the 45 others who joined in the expedition) started their trek west from St. Louis, Missouri. When Lewis and Clark reached North Dakota, they hired Sacajawea, an Indian to act as their guide and translator. Throughout the expedition, Lewis and Clark sent men back to President Jefferson with reports on what they had discovered up until that point. After spending over two years making their way to the pacific coast and back, they returned with glowing reports of the territory.
The route that Lewis and Clark took
Impact on Expansion: Although Lewis and Clark never found the direct waterway to the West coast that Jefferson was hoping for, the Lewis and Clark expedition had an enormous impact on Westward expansion and development. The journey served as the catalyst for the migration of thousands of Americans to the West. In their reports to the President, Lewis and Clark described a beautiful landscape with a vast supply of natural resources. These descriptions excited Americans, who were eager to journey to the west in hopes of finding fortune or a better life. This excitement and thirst for adventure, combined with the information that Lewis and Clark had been able to travel to the opposite coast and arrive home safely, inspired hundreds of Americans to attempt the trek out west. This expedition was the spark that lit the fire of westward expansion.
Lewis and Clark meet with Indians during their journey
Impact on Indians: Although Lewis and Clark's relationship with the Indians was mostly amiable, the expedition had an overall negative impact on the Indians living in the West, and is seen by many to be "the beginning of the end". It inspired thousands of settlers to travel west, displacing dozens of Indian tribes that had been promised safe living in the west by the American government. Eventually, American settlers took over the west, pushing Indians into the most barren, inhospitable areas. More immediately, however, Lewis and Clark's expedition initiated the fur trade. Lewis and Clark traded with Indians on their journey, noting in their journals the abundance of animals whose pelts made valuable furs. This, combined with the influx of settlers to the west after the expedition,created a booming fur trade between settlers and Indians as settlers were moving out west.
1804-1806
Background: President Thomas Jefferson had purchased the Louisiana territory from the French in 1803. After congress approved a budget of $2,500 for an expedition into the new land, he chose Captain Meriwether Lewis to head the expedition into the territory to attempt to find a waterway stretching across the continent, determine the possibility for expanding trade, develop Indian relationships, and record the plants, animals, geography, natural resources, and terrain. Lewis asked his friend, William Clark, to be co-leader of the expedition. In May 1804, the "Corps of Discovery" (Lewis, Clark, and the 45 others who joined in the expedition) started their trek west from St. Louis, Missouri. When Lewis and Clark reached North Dakota, they hired Sacajawea, an Indian to act as their guide and translator. Throughout the expedition, Lewis and Clark sent men back to President Jefferson with reports on what they had discovered up until that point. After spending over two years making their way to the pacific coast and back, they returned with glowing reports of the territory.
Impact on Expansion: Although Lewis and Clark never found the direct waterway to the West coast that Jefferson was hoping for, the Lewis and Clark expedition had an enormous impact on Westward expansion and development. The journey served as the catalyst for the migration of thousands of Americans to the West. In their reports to the President, Lewis and Clark described a beautiful landscape with a vast supply of natural resources. These descriptions excited Americans, who were eager to journey to the west in hopes of finding fortune or a better life. This excitement and thirst for adventure, combined with the information that Lewis and Clark had been able to travel to the opposite coast and arrive home safely, inspired hundreds of Americans to attempt the trek out west. This expedition was the spark that lit the fire of westward expansion.
Impact on Indians: Although Lewis and Clark's relationship with the Indians was mostly amiable, the expedition had an overall negative impact on the Indians living in the West, and is seen by many to be "the beginning of the end". It inspired thousands of settlers to travel west, displacing dozens of Indian tribes that had been promised safe living in the west by the American government. Eventually, American settlers took over the west, pushing Indians into the most barren, inhospitable areas. More immediately, however, Lewis and Clark's expedition initiated the fur trade. Lewis and Clark traded with Indians on their journey, noting in their journals the abundance of animals whose pelts made valuable furs. This, combined with the influx of settlers to the west after the expedition,created a booming fur trade between settlers and Indians as settlers were moving out west.